Character Sheet Creation Guide
by B.Kellestine v. 1.0 2016 Overview Though sheeted character creation is not a requirement for play in The World of Imarel RPG, to play in our dice-driven events, a character sheet that is approved by our staff is a requirement. This simple guide exists to assist new players in creating a character sheet ready for play with minimal need for staff intervention (though our staff are always happy to assist if something is confusing!) First, you must download a copy of the Player Character Sheet, which can be found here. Most players simply copy this file to their own Google Drive, or similar medium, for easy sharing. Staff will, on occasion, request to view your sheet. Do not take this personally. We are not in the habit of assuming players are fudging numbers, but sometimes small errors are made or specific wording on something is being sought, to make a ruling easier for a GM during an event. When requested by a staff member, sharing this sheet is mandatory and refusing to do so may result in ejection from the event. Basic Character Information Beginning at the top, fill out the details of your character, beginning with your character’s name and family. When choosing a class, you first choose a ‘base’ class. Each base class is divided into a number of class paths, the actual specialized profession that the character practices. After deciding which class you wish to play, copy all three Shared Class Abilities onto your sheet (the appropriate heading can be found lower on your sheet.) The same will be done for Class Specific Abilities. Paragon Abilities, however, are not copied on to the sheet. These are higher-tier abilities that can be purchased for the expenditure of 12 Event Points (earned by participating in events in the channel, or writing stories for the forums) for all 3 abilities. Dual-Classing characters is a possibility for most classes, and is explained in this article. After that, a race must be chosen. This may be a basic Race or a Sub-Race, but Prestige Races must be played with permission of an Op, and usually only after playing in the channel for a good deal of time, to make sure that the player understands the implications of playing such a race. Some Prestiges, such as Kal`aire, are almost entirely unplayable, except for people who have been with the channel for a very long period of time, and understand the lore associated with them. Non-canon races may also be played, subject to staff approval, but gain none of the mechanical racial bonuses (unless an Op says otherwise.) Some races, such as the Asyndi, Humans and Shei, have specific ethnic groups among them. For Example, the Shei are divided into the Tallis-Shei, the Tallis-Kah, and the Tallis-Vyss. One of these, likewise, must be chosen at this time. As with Class Abilities, Racial Abilities and Weaknesses must be copied to the character sheet under the appropriate heading. Next, you choose a sex, height and weight, and skin, hair and eye color. The latter five are generally dictated by race, and racial norms can be found on their respective racial pages. Next, Ethos and Religion are chosen. Ethos is much like other RPG’s use of alignment, though in the World of Imarel, as good and evil are mostly relative, only a Law and Chaos axis is used to determine alignment. Religions can be found on the Deities page, here. Before choosing and committing a character to a specific faith, it is advised to discuss that faith with a staff member at least a little. Many of them have a great deal of established In-character lore associated with them, and staff can assist you in filling you in on information and making sure the faith is one that is proper for your character. As the gods and spirits of Imarel are quite real (and often make appearances to heroes during storylines) there are no atheists on Imarel. Agnostics are, however, not uncommon, as the gods are sometimes viewed as meddlers in mortal affairs. Languages spoken are also determined by race. The respective racial page should dictate what languages the character can initially speak. Further, characters may choose one more language their character can speak. As there is no exhaustive list of languages, this will occasionally require the assistance of a staff member to complete, but many languages can be determined by simply looking around the other racial pages. Total EP, for a new player’s character, will be 0. EP, or Event Points, as previously mentioned, are gained through participating in diced events or writing stories for the Forums. Combat Abilities will be discussed at a later point in this article, as it is dependent on a number of factors that will be discussed hereafter. Class/Race Information should have already been copied to the character sheet at this point, and though will be referenced later when calculating Combat Abilities, no further work on it should be needed at this point. Proficiencies For the next section of character creation, it is extremely helpful to have the Weapon and Non-Weapon Proficiencies page open and ready. Weapon Skills are a measure of your character’s ability to handle a weapon. Characters start with one Weapon skill, at Proficient Rank. This should grant a +5% bonus to hit with that given weapon. Weapon Proficiencies are only available through EP purchase, at a cost of 3 EP each, and specialized for an additional 6. Their base success rate is 80%, and specialized success is 90%. An Unarmed Skill may be chosen for a new character to be known, at Novice Rank. Unarmed Skills may be found here. Trade Skills are crafting skills that a player may use, once per week, to make an item or spell with mechanical statistics (witnessed and approved by an Op.) These rolls are made weekly, on Tuesdays, when a staff member declares that they are taking trade rolls. As many people are requesting rolls and items, please be patient with the staff. They may be assisting another player, and will get to you as soon as they possibly can. A new character begins play with one trade skill, at Novice Rank, with a 65% chance of success. Non-Weapon Proficiencies are other skills that a character knows. Many of these Proficiencies have prerequisites, though many can likewise be chosen initially at character creation. A new character begins with 6 of these abilities, and more can be purchased at a cost of 3 EP each, and specialized for an additional 6. Their base success rate is 80%, and specialized success is 90%. Equipment may consist of basic, common sense items that the character would possess. Further, depending on the power level of the chronicle, a player may begin with additional equipment which has some small mechanical bonuses. These items will be provided by an Op, and only on request (we will not seek you to give you starting gear, you must come to us!) Combat Abilities This is usually the part of character creation that confuses most players, and may require a little more assistance from a staff member. Usually, when examining a character sheet for approval, this is where staff focus most of their attention, so most often if there is an error in math. Total Hit : This is, as the name suggests, the character’s total hit score, recorded as a percent. Base to-hit scores for each class can be found here (contained in the chart in Section 2) Hit is calculated as follows : Base Class Hit+Racial Bonuses+Class Bonuses+Weapon Skills+Equipment Bonuses = Total Hit. Armor Rating : A measure of a character’s armor defenses, against physical and some magical attacks. This is expressed as a negative. The ‘Base’ AR is 0. This is calculated as follows : Equipment Bonuses + Racial Bonuses + Class Bonuses = AR Mystic Defense : Is a measure of a character’s ability to resist certain magical attacks. Like AR, MD is expressed as a negative, and the Base score is 0. This is calculated as follows : Equipment Bonuses + Racial Bonuses + Class Bonuses = MD Evasion/Dodge : A measure of a character’s ability to get out of the way of an attack. This is an action that is attempted and consumes the round following an attack, unless otherwise stated by the GM running the event. It is calculated as follows, and represented as a positive : Racial Abilities + Class Abilities + Equipment Bonuses = Evasion Block/Deflection : A measure of a character’s ability to block or deflect an incoming attack, provided an appropriate piece of equipment is being held to do so. It is calculated as follows, and represented as a positive : Class Abilities + Equipment Bonuses = Block/Deflection Skulk/Camo/Hide : A measure of a character’s ability to be sneaky. Each of these three abilities is a little different, but most of the time the result is mostly the same. It is calculated as follows, and represented as a positive : Class Abilities + Racial Abilities + Equipment Bonuses = Skulk/Camo/Hide Non-Race/Class Bonuses : This is for any other miscellaneous abilities, often gained through RP or a substitute for event loot on rare occasions. Summary This explanation is only a guide to assist players in better understanding how character creation is done. Regardless of the level of understanding a player has of the world, characters should still be reviewed and approved by a staff member. Likewise, new players are not expected to adhere to this guide and not ask for the assistance of a staff member, and are still encouraged to seek help from staff if they don’t understand something. We are here to help, and have in most cases created many characters for ourselves and assisted dozens of others in creating theirs. Never be afraid to ask for help, or ask questions! Category:Player Guides